5 Tips For Building An Awesome Personal Brand

When it comes to branding, most people think about big, recognizable brands such as Coca-Cola, Apple, or Starbucks, but the truth is that even small and medium businesses, as well as individuals in business, need to build a personal brand. It’s necessary for helping you stand out among your competitors, and capture the attention of your target audience. A personal brand doesn’t only refer to a logo, tagline, or a slogan. It also has a certain intangible quality that communicates a unique message to your potential customers and makes them choose you over other brands. No matter how abstract the concept of your personal brand may seem, there are some very concrete things you can do to build and maintain it.

Networking is a two-way street

Networking is crucial for developing your business, expanding your reach, and building your personal brand. Still, many people see it only as a way to obtain some kind of personal benefit, while completely neglecting the needs and benefits of the other person in that relationship. So, if you want to build your personal brand, you should do it the right way and allow other people to benefit from connecting with you. Moreover, by doing so, you’ll obtain more business connections and opportunities, and empower your brand.

Start a blog

Being helpful and sharing your expertise with others is one of the best ways to establish yourself as an authority in your field and work on your personal brand. Apart from that, you can also write about your work process and give your potential customers as well as partners insight into your work strategy, principles, explain to them who you are, and give a hint why they should do business with you. Another important reason for starting a blog is the fact that you can use SEO to optimize your content and reach your target audience more easily. According to statistics, companies that publish more than 16 blog posts a month get almost 3.5 times more traffic than those that publish 0-4 blog posts, and this illustrates how effective your blogging efforts can be in building your personal brand.

Leverage social media

As simple as this step may seem, you need to go the extra mile if you want to make the most of social media platforms. First of all, they’re an excellent method of feeling the pulse of your target audience and learning as much as possible about them in order to make sure that you address them in the most appropriate manner and be relatable. By communicating and interacting with people who follow you on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, you’ll be able to establish a strong online presence and improve brand awareness, not to mention forge an emotional connection with them. Creating an authentic and compelling brand narrative is one of the key ingredients for a successful personal brand. It’s also a good idea to organize contests and giveaways on social media, reward your loyal followers with cool branded products, and improve your brand recognition.

Create a strong value proposition

A strong value proposition is essential for attracting your potential customers and convincing them that your products and services are exactly what they need. Basically, your value proposition should intrigue people to read more about your products or services. The important thing about this is that you should never promise something that you can’t fulfill, as failing to deliver what you promised can damage your brand. A successful value proposition has to explain how you can solve your target audience’s pain points, and why they should opt for you. Make sure to clearly state all the benefits that they will enjoy if they opt for your services.

Be consistent

A survey has revealed that almost 60% of millennials expect a consistent experience with the brands they interact with both online and offline. Consistent messaging across different channels of communication and having the same style, voice, and tone is critical for building your personal brand. This means that you should do your best to use an established set of words, terms, phrases, and expressions whenever you’re interacting with your customers. However, not every brand will have the same identity and attitude, so depending on who your target audience is you should decide whether you’ll present yourself in a casual, relaxed light, or you’ll stick to a more professional and businesslike attitude.

Building your personal brand can distinguish you from the other similar business people, and if you don’t play your cards right, your brand and reputation might suffer.

I am a marketing manager and a business consultant mostly focused on latest tech trends and practices applicable to startup and SMB marketing. I also edit a business-oriented website Bizzmarkblog.com and write for some top-tier online publications such as TheNextWeb.com and MarketingInsidergroup.com.